The Nexus 7 is a fantastic piece of hardware and most everyone on the forum is super excited about getting their hands on one. (heck, that's why I started this site!) but as we all know there's a few small limitations that Google put in place that some of us might want to rectify such as the ability to enable some form of video out or add additional memory.
Well the first step to coming up with solutions for these issues as well as to open up the Nexus 7 to putting custom ROMs and adding other kinds of mods or hacks to the device has just been accomplished. It seems the fine ladies and gents over at the XDA-Developers forums (a forum for developers and hackers for those not familiar) have succeeded in unlocking the bootloader and hence granting 'root' access to the device. They've also been successful in installing 'ClockworkMod Recovery' which again for the unfamiliar is a program commonly used by developers and hackers to enable the ability to roll back a device's operating system to the original version as well as install hacks to a rooted device.
Now 'rooting' your Nexus 7 by unlocking your bootloader has the unfortunate effect of erasing all your personal data so it's not something you'd want to do if you had tons of information you don't want lost or if you've purchased lots of apps. Also, 'rooting' your Nexus 7 always has the small...but real risk that if you don't know what you're doing that it could possibly 'brick' your device making your Nexus 7 into an expensive paperweight. In otherwords it's best left to those that are experienced tech hobbyists and know what they're doing...or at least get walked through the process by someone that is experienced. So again just to be clear.
'Root At Your Own Risk!'Now just because the Nexus 7 has been rooted doesn't mean that custom solutions have actually been created yet. (actually, at least one has-
adding support for USB flash drives by installing 'StickMount'!) But it's the first step and that's how all great things start now isn't it. I've provided links below to the XDA-Developers Forums for those that are tech inclined and would like to learn more. Again...I wouldn't actually go ahead and root your Nexus 7 after you get it in a couple of weeks unless you know what you're doing. We don't take any responsibility here at the forum for anything bad that happens to your tablet so make sure you understand that...and understand the root process thoroughly if and when you decide to do so.
With that said...it's pretty exciting to think of the possibilities that lie ahead for us new or soon to be Nexus 7 owners. With the amount of developer support and support this device is going to get from the hacking and modding community we really should be able to make this into the 'tablet of our dreams' in very short order!
